Making Lemonade (replacing the video card)

Bad news is my video card died last night. Good news is maybe now is the time to upgrade. I had a Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT on a Dell Inspiron 530, with a Intel Core2 Duo processor, 3 GB RAM and 500GB Hard Drive. Using Vista.

What should I go up to? 8800? 9600?

Thank you again clever people!

/me looks at his Dell Inspiron 531 with its Intel Core2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive and Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT.

Oh dear...

(Can't help you on the specs, but argh!)

Great minds, eh?

But OMG, Skell----then you know about Dell Hell!

Pray for me?!?!?!?!

*Sends good vibes to her Radeon X300, and thanks it for hanging in there.

I have a Dell too, but it's a desktop. I love it.

I'm still in the process of switching overfom my 700Mhz AMD with an old 9200+TV & 384 ram

new machine is currently quad 2,4Ghz(oc ~3.2) w/ GTX260 (on loan untill the 280 arrives) and 3g ram (because pae sucks for XPpro32b)

I hate math, andI hate figuring out how farI can upgrade, so I always go the best I can get atm (course I do more than play SL, so requirements vary)

my advice is to guess if ti'll be cheaper in the long run to just upgrade everything, or do a partial now and wait forthe next round of tech to be reasonably priced (X58?)

Search the forums for info on the 9600 - I think SL does not yet handle that one well.

My 8800GT works well, but if you get that, make sure you do not use the latest drivers because there is a problem with those.

I got access to 2 computers one got Nvidia 7600GS the other 7900GS, appear ok to me, what do you guys get for being 8000 or 9000 series?
By the way I read the 8000's run hotter, if true is that the OPs problem?

It really depends on how much you want to spend. Also, refer to Tom's Hardware at

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Components,1/Graphics-Cards,4/

for detailed write-ups.

I get great performance, usually 30fps, much higher in places, lower in very dense builds, at ultra settings (128m draw, all options on max) using an 8800 GTS (640MB) at 1920x1200.

I am building a new machine with a GTX 280 which is nVidia's new top-of-the-line (around $400) but from reviews it doesn't look like t will be a big boost from the 8800 series whic is well below $200.

I believe Nvidia did an extended warranty on the 8400 & 8600 series in laptops, that were failing due to a bad batch of solder.
I wouldn't bother with 9600, go 8800 or 9800. 8800's are the most popular card on the market , the gaming standard, will be supported for years.

Able to run at higher resolutions, for example with my 9800 I just set all settings to maximum, no problems.
8800 wouldn't handle that but certainly handled everything at 75% just fine.
The 9600 didn't seem much better than the 8800.
But my 7600 struggled a bit.
Note I have been running all these using dual monitors too at max resolution. With forums, U-tube, whatever open on the second monitor.

Yeah, pretty much ditto that for me.

Nvidia Geforce 7800GTX runs superbly for me...graphics at max settings...

8800GTS here.

In dense builds w/ lots of people my frame rate drops to about 11-20.

In empty areas my FPS is off the chart!

I can also check for you on that Dell for what it can take.
Which Inspiron 530 was it? There's an "S" series and "CR" series, one or two others I think.

Can't say much about performance as I havent used a "store bought" system since the days of Pentium 2.

when I upgrade recently i can't believe the difference the water is so sparkly, SL looks amazing with the right graphics

The 8800 series has been replaced by the 9800 series -- newer fabrication technology, same performance for SL. (The 9800 has some extra HD video decoding features that aren't relevant.) I've seen specials on the 9800GT for under $100 -- quite a deal at that price. There are still some new old stock 8800 cards in the channel, but there isn't much reason to buy one unless you're looking for a second 8800 to run in SLI with the one you already have. The 9600 is basically 4/7 of a 9800GT (64 instead of 112 stream processors) and isn't enough cheaper to justify the performance hit, though it might be a reasonable choice for a system with a marginal power supply or case cooling.

There were driver problems with the 9600 and 9800 and Second Life when they first came out. Those seem to be have been resolved now.

For a hundred bucks or less, a 512MB 8800GT or 9800GT is an easy choice, as long as your power supply can run it.

It's very nice being able to see things in SL the way they were meant to be seen.

Would think nearly £100 here, so must be cheaper in USA. Will see if prices dropping.
I running a 7900GS not aware power unit not coping. Is any more power used? Wiill look at label what you think I need in power?

I had almost the exact same system (but w/XP not Vista) and just upgraded my card. The 530 with that processor came stock with a 300 w power supply, so you'll need to upgrade that too. I popped in a Corsair 650w PSU, then an nvidia 9800GT. I also added a slot fan just in case.

Runs SL like a dream: 30-40+ fps with settings at ultra, never drops below 25 fps even on my laggy mainland sim! Card is staying nice and cool too! Good luck!

(Using the 178 drivers and no probs yet!)

Yes £99 upwards is the going rate in UK, we about 1.3 to 1.4 $ to £ I would think, so a rip off here.

Just to throw in my 2 cents; I plumped for the Saphire Radeon HD2600 with 512mb onboard video ram. Only £45 from dabs.com. If money is an issue, I reccommend it. It can't compete with the likes of 8800s but it's supported and it does the job admirably, so it's a good compromise.

Incidentally, if you are running 64bit processors you will benefit from the 64 bit version of your operating system. It'd foolish not to.

I too am looking to upgrade from a 8600 GT to a 9800 GT or GTX+. I currently have an EVGA brand card, but I'm wondering what other brands people are using and how they like them.

don;t get the 9600!! I know...... I hate it and no SL hates it to..
my 8800 I miss... I will get another one after I pay my tier...

My 9600 performed fine, remember people, the other hardware like CPU & motherboard may also determine what works well, as some people do seem to have problems with things that work for many others.

Are BFG brand cards reliable and good quality?